


Fears of a Ninja

by MidnightMoonWarrior



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Genre: Fear, Guns, Hospitals, Ninjas - Freeform, Spiders, Writing, falling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-02-21
Updated: 2012-02-20
Packaged: 2017-10-31 12:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/344172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightMoonWarrior/pseuds/MidnightMoonWarrior
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We all have them, something scares us or gives us the chills, but question is what caused it? What caused the discomfort or distress? Well for the ninjas, I have a few theories...See if you agree.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shane

**Author's Note:**

> Ninja Storm being mine? It ain't happening.
> 
> Please R2 (Read and Review) and thank you for doing so!
> 
> AN: Another weird and wicked muse, that's my excuse.

**Shane Clarke- Arachnophobia: Fear of Spiders**

****

* * *

 

He was scared.

That was a normal human reaction, but for him it was not just a small fear. He was absolutely terrified of the little monster in front of him. Being red ranger, he was supposed to be fearless and he was. Except for one itty bitty thing that stopped him dead in his tracks.

It really hadn't noticed him, but he had.

He had been cleaning Kelly's shop with the others, his job had been dusting. He thought that Dustin should have been given the job, Dustin dusting was a pretty good rhyme. But no, he was given the dainty job of banishing dust. Hunter had suggested that he wear a maid outfit and he had glared. Walking over to where he was now frozen, he had come face to face with it.

Its microscopic fangs seemed to grow and eight beady little eyes promptly ignored him. The tiny animal continued to weave its web, as it had been doing for days. His blood ran cold, his usually rational brain ignoring the facts. Like the fact that he was much bigger than the thing and that he could easily smash it to death. But did he thing of that? No.

"Maid, why are you not dusting?"

He hardly registered the insult, still locked in horror.

"Shane?"

This time he recognized Hunter's voice, as well as footsteps surrounding him.

"Move" Someone had pushed their way to the front of their group "Shane, what's wrong?"

He managed to tilt his head a small bit to see Tori looking at him with concern.

"S-spider" The pitiful word was stuttered, he dared not look back to the little monstrosity, instead locking eyes with the blond.

"Shit" From just beyond his vision, Dustin winced

With his one worded response, his best female friend tore their gaze to look at the little thing. This time the spider reacted, the two gazed at each other for a moment. Then Tori did something that shocked four of the six group members.

Taking the cleaning solution bottle that she had been using, the water ninja proceeded to slam it carefully and forcefully onto of the black animal that had terrorized him. That was not what had shocked them, what had made their jaws drop was that she had yelled like a kamikaze pilot the entire time, one word over and over.

"DIE!"

Cue hit from the Windex.

"DIE! DIE!"

Cue another hit.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!"

You get the picture of what lasted for about a minute. Then the panting blue ranger lowered her weapon, which was now covered in spider guts, and turned back to Shane.

"Thanks" He smiled, thankful that the threat had been neutralized

"Glad to protect you from the spider a second time" She smirked, playfully bumping into him before the others recovered from their spider smashing shock.

"What the hell was that?" Hunter asked wide eyed

"Tori's version of whack a spider" Shane replied with no trace that he had ever been rooted to the spot

"Who knew she was so violent?" Blake muttered, remembering to never piss Tori off while she held a cleaning product

"What do you mean again?" All eyes turned to Cam

"Again what?" Tori wasn't sure what he meant

"You said that you were glad to smash the spider a second time, when was the first time?" Then all eyes turned to the red and blues, the question now echoing all their minds

"I've never seen you do that, when have you?" Dustin had never seen Tori smash a spider for Shane's sake all the time that he had been friends with the two, he wanted to know as bad as the others.

"Let's just say that Shane here was as big of an idiot in the past as he is now" The red ranger proceeded to glare, Tori just smiled

"Tell us!" Hunter pounced, always wanted to hear a humiliating story, especially if it was about the ranger that he fought and teased with constantly.

She shrugged in the darker male's direction "It's not my story to tell"

"Will you tell us Shane?"

He had never shared the story about the night that he had had the fear imposed on him by unfortunate circumstances. These were his friends, his teammates. Why should he hide it from them? Oh right, because it was humiliating. They would laugh at it, even if he did not find it funny.

"You should tell them, you know they won't stop till you do" She was right, he wasn't sure if he could deal with the pestering of four rangers. He could hardly deal with Hunter, but with Dustin, Blake, and Cam? He was doomed.

"Fine, but one condition"

They all waited for his one law for the telling of the tale.

"If you laugh, you have to dust"

They all nodded, at least in his misery he wouldn't have to work.

The double trio of rangers journeyed to the relax room of the shop, after telling Kelly that they were taking their break. Taking a seat, he breathed deeply. They waited; there was no going back now.

"When I was ten, my parents sent me to summer camp…"

_He was bummed._

_Seriously down in the dumps, for multiple reasons._

_He was at summer camp instead of at home skateboarding. Having been forced here by his paternal units, he had hoped to at least bring his personal favorite way of transportation. But no, there was no skateboarding on the grounds, instead the camp promised "Safe and educational fun!" God; he hated this place and he had already been there…five minutes, great._

_It would have been bearable if Dustin was there, but no his best friend was going to a motocross camp. He hated being places where he knew no one, especially if there was no one to back him up when he said that he had not pushed this one rude kid. Dustin would have supported him, but the racer was not there. That's right, he had been given a demerit already, five minutes in!_

"You got a demerit after five minutes?"

He rolled his eyes at Cam "The kid was mean, kind of reminds me of Hunter"

"HEY!"

_The day passed so slowly, finally it was time to sleep. Turned out that not only did the activities, which included macaroni art, suck; so did the food. By dinner, he had seriously considered calling his parents and begging them to come get him. But he hadn't and so he was now in a room with three others guys. One was the brainy type that enjoyed the crap that they had been forced to do, another was mellow with the whole situation, and the third was the guy he had pushed down earlier._

"Also known as Cam, Blake, and Hunter"

Tori snickered, the three mentioned rolled their eyes.

_So he was in hell with the meanest of the lot sharing a bunk with him, he wondered if it could get any worse. Trying to fall asleep, snores came through the darkness. He groaned, it had just gotten worse._

"Bet it was Blake" Dustin said

"I don't snore" The navy ranger replied defensively

"Right" Hunter chuckled

_He was awoken to the sensation of something poking him. Opening his eyes he looked into the dark room, the only light was moonlight through the blinds. He thought it was his imagination, about to turn back in when he felt it again. Determined to yell at the person on the top bunk, he grabbed his flash light._

" _Hey idio…" The sentence died as he turned on the light to shine it down at the bottom of his bunk_

_It looked like it had just crawled out of a monster movie, he tried to move out of the bed; but before he could, it moved closer. Eight long haired legs stretched slowly to propel it closer to him. He froze, looking at the two sets of four eyes focused solely on him and him alone. Everything about it was big, especially the fangs._

"Sounds like a tarantula" Cam mused

The others glared

"Scientific mumbo jumbo later; let him finish!"

Cam rolled his eyes.

_It grew closer; he couldn't do anything to stop it._

_He was doomed._

_And then the door opened, drawing his attention for a spilt second. Moonlight spilled around the figure, golden hair seeming to glow. Locking eyes with the stranger, he let out a silent plead for help. The person, who was carrying a book in hand, came to the bed and with a quick attack; the spider flew from his lap to the floor._

_The figure moved swiftly to the place the stunned animal laid. Bring the book down; there was no more threat, no more terror. The weapon of choice was set on the floor next to the remains and his knight in moonlit armor turned to leave._

_But not before slapping his bunkmate, who had been watching the entire thing with delight._

"He set it up?" Blake asked

"The genius kid had snuck it in and the idiot thought it would be a good way to get back at me" Shane replied

"Hunter" Dustin waved his finger at the crimson ranger

"Shut up" The dirty blond muttered

_Then the figure turned to leave, turning only to look back at him as the stranger was about to close the door._

" _Thanks" He whispered_

" _You're welcome" Was the response, before it was dark once more_

_He wrapped himself in the blanket, trying to forget the terror._

_One thing he knew was that he was never going near another spider again._

_**Never.** _

"Who was the guy?" Dustin asked; who had saved Shane?

"Who says it was a guy?" Shane motioned towards the grinning blond

"It was you?" Hunter gasped

Tori nodded "My parents had also shipped me off, I had borrowed a book from the brainy kid and I thought the best time to return it was at night. Then I walked in on Shane here being attacked by a spider and I did the right thing."

"Thing was that I wanted to ask her why she did it, but I didn't see her after that" The red ranger added

"But then I come back and Dustin wanted to introduce me to someone" The water ninja smirked "Any guesses who it was?"

"So that's why you two couldn't stop grinning that day" Dustin said, have finally figured it out

"So why did you smash the creature?" Cam asked

" Cus Hunter, I mean the other guy, was taking it too far. For me, it was the equivalent of…" She ran off, stopping herself before she shared too much

"What would have scared you that badly?" Dustin worded the sentence wisely knowing that if he probed too much, she would have his head.

"Nothing"

She quickly stood and walked away, which sent them after her in a question driven frenzy.

"Tell us!"

"Come on!"

"What is it?"

"Please tell us!"

"Tori!

Walking away, the chores were forgotten and so were the remains of a nameless spider….

…which Shane was glad was dead.


	2. Dustin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AN: Couldn't find a Phobia for Dustin, the closest there is Acrophobia which is fear of high places and it just didn't work.

**Waldo "Dustin" Brooks- Fear of Falling  
**

 

****

* * *

 

"Please tell!"

The one by the name Waldo, also known as Dustin, tried to use his puppy dog eyes to get her to tell them her fear. It had worked numerous times before, getting them out of work, out of trouble, and even out of jail (He didn't really like to talk about that one). So this was his final attack that almost never failed…

"No" The word was said firmly

"Nuts" He muttered under his breath, his sweet eyes usually worked

She had been hiding it from them since Shane had revealed his, ignoring their attempts to get it out of her.

"Why won't you tell us?" The wind red ninja asked, he had shared his; why couldn't she do the same?

"Because" She brushed a blond hair behind her ear, turning away from them to stare at the place where they had all cornered her.

The water fell down to the pond that protected and hid their base of operations, roaring the entire way to the bottom. From here there was a decent view over the treetops, fresh air blew gently. She loved it; just not at the moment.

"Come on Tor, what could be that bad?" Blake said, although they all knew it could be really bad. This was what scared the girl that put them in their place when they were being a jerk, who solved all their arguments before it turned into a brawl. If it scared her, there was no telling what it could be.

"No surfboard?" Hunter threw out with a chuckle

"No" She stared out into the wide sky, not planning on telling them any time soon

"Bad hair day?" They all laughed at Cam's suggestion

"Wrong" She was getting a bit irritated, she had told them no; why wouldn't they listen?

"No ranger powers?" Shane guessed

"No water?" Blake added

"Nope, nada, and…" Her slightly agitated answer was cut off

"Afraid that you would be forced to be a ballerina?" Dustin smiled wickedly

She glared, showing that she was in no way amused.

But he didn't see, or ignored, the warning signs. That's when the first domino was pushed over, with his comment. The question led to the chain of events that would lead to what he hated. Another mistake on his part was pushing himself onto his tiptoes, twirling in a mock impression of those who lived to dance. This not only but him off balanced, but it was even more of a distraction to the intense glare that his female teammate was giving him. Turning in circles in her direction, almost bumping into her; he didn't see the aggression building.

The others laughed, not seeing it either.

"Be careful" Shane warned between chuckles

Rolling his eyes; he continued.

" _Be careful"_

_He nodded sarcastically at his father's words. A day at the beach, simple right? Except that it was boring. He was at the age where the sand wasn't a new thing to explore, like it had been in the past, but he wasn't old enough to go out any deeper than where it touched his feet._

" _Why don't you build a sandcastle?" He repeated his elder's words in a sarcastic voice_

" _HELL YA!"_

_The shouted words gained his attention, as the man who had screamed it hit the water. He looked at the cliff where the person had jumped from, he looked back to his dad._

_Busy reading._

_He could go and be back in a minute, he wouldn't be missed._

_And it would definitely be more interesting than what he was doing now._

_Making his decision, he crept across the sand towards the higher solid land; watching for any sign that his father would look up. There was none, he was in the clear._

" _What your name little man?" A teenager asked when he reached the top_

" _Dustin" He replied in his five year old squeak_

" _Be careful, kay?" Again he nodded, slightly annoyed at all the people telling him to be careful_

_Weaving between the taller adults, he came to look over the edge. They weren't that high up, but it seemed like so far to the water. Searching the beach, he found that he could see his father from…_

_A bump sent him stumbling towards the rocky edge._

"Cut it out Dustin" She growled, giving him a rather hard push

_He tried to fall back, to stay on land, but the momentum sent him forward…_

The final domino fell, sending him towards the edge. Off balance and disoriented, his attempts to catch himself or grab the edge were futile.

_His pile of brown hair was blown in all which way as everything seemed to go silent, except for one word._

_The crowd reacted in concern, rushing forward; although all he could see was the one in front. The one who had told him to be careful; the one shouting…_

" _DUSTIN!"_

Air rushed past as five voices combined to unleash one word.

One fear filled word.

"DUSTIN!"

_A hand reached out to grab his, but no one pulled him back up._

_Sounds of panic sounded, but all he heard was the wind._

_He was falling; all he could see was the sky._

A hand brushed his, but there was no connection.

His friends were in a fear filled frenzy; but only the sound of the roaring water filled his ear.

Then it hit him, he was where he never wanted to be.

Free falling.

There were no rangers in his vision, only the blue abyss.

_He tried to grab onto the cliff, he wanted to be back on the ground._

_With his dad, in the soft sand._

He wished to be back on the ground.

Solid earth; where he had control.

_His fingertips came back bloody, the sharp rocks slicing the skin._

" _Help!"_

_The word was yelled; it seemed to only seem like a whisper._

_The ocean was approaching, the smell of sea water getting closer._

The roar of water was fading, yet he was still falling.

_Tears ran down his face; he wanted to be somewhere else._

_Why could he not do anything?_

" _HELP!"_

_He screamed as his back hit the water_

"POWER OF WATER!"

He was caught; the impact still sent air from his lungs.

_Cold; the dark was so cold._

_His vision blurred, he was still falling._

Sinking deeper into the water; falling to the bottom.

_Fading light; fading chill._

Numbness.

_Then there was a hand dragging him._

Two sets, pulling him from the dark.

_Solid ground; he wasn't falling._

His hand scraped the ground.

Dirt; sweet dirt.

" _Kid?"_

_He couldn't respond, staring into the sky._

"Dustin?"

There was only the sky; nothing else.

" _Talk to me Dustin"_

"Come on buddy, say something"

_There was pounding on his chest, but he still didn't move._

Somebody was doing compressions; another checking his pulse.

" _Come on kid!"_

"Dustin!"

_Fuzziness overcame his vision; his eyes closed._

All feeling faded; there was only one thing.

_Only…_

…darkness.

* * *

_It was her fault._

_She had lost her temper and pushed him over._

_He wasn't responding; she held his hand as the others worked._

" _His pulse is a little fast, but other than that…" Cam informed_

" _Then why is he not saying anything?" Shane snapped_

" _Calm down" She said, she knew he was scared; they all were_

_The red nodded, it had been minutes since his eyes had closed._

" _Should we move him?" Blake asked; they all looked at the resident medic_

" _Carefully, we don't want to move anything that could be broken" They all nodded; taking positions to lift him up_

" _Tori go prepare a bed" With one last squeeze she let go of his hand, running inside_

_One tear ran down her cheek._

_She hoped…no, prayed that he would be okay._

Walk twenty steps, turn around.

"Tori"

She ignored the statement.

It had been over an hour, nothing.

Seeing him fall had been horrible, the pure look of fear on his face. Panic radiating throughout his body. What had she done?

Twenty steps; turn around.

"Tori"

She didn't reply.

She had caused this, it was her fault.

Her hand had almost…she had almost caught him. But she hadn't. Not only had she caused it, she couldn't save him. She had managed to slightly cushion his fall but other than that…Why did she not save him?

"Tor"

Twenty steps: turn…

Two hands stopped her from pacing.

It was Cam.

"What?" She muttered, two fear filled eyes echoing in her mind

"You want to check on him?"

She nodded, leaving the group. Cam had cleared the room where Dustin had been laid, so the others would hover. So they had been confined to waiting outside in the main area, which drove them all crazy.

Entering the room, she found that his eyes were still closed.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she took his hand.

"Dustin" The whispered word was so quiet, almost silent

No response; but she hadn't expected one.

"Dude…"

Great, she thought, I am hallucinating now.

But it was nice to hear his voice, she squeezed his hand.

"…what the hell hit me?"

The blond received a squeeze back, her eyes darting to meet his brown ones.

"Dustin!" Wrapping him a hug, she heard him groan

"Sorry" She apologized

"No problem…" He sat up, grimacing at his aching body

"I am so sorry" Tori said sadly, remembering his face as he fell

"For what?" She stared at him strangely

"I pushed you over a cliff" She replied

"Oh right, do me a favor…don't do that again" She smirked, but he actually looked afraid of it happening

"Are you afraid of falling?" She had no idea where the question came from, but it was out there; no taking it back.

He nodded "Fell off a cliff when I was little; I do not like the feeling"

"Well that's understandable"

He smirked "You never told me what you are afraid of"

"Not telling" She stood to walk and tell the others

"Please!" He begged

"Nope…" She opened the door to see the others staring at her

"Well?" Hunter asked, she smiled

"He's awake"

With the two words, the guys rushed past her.

She smirked and Dustin glared.

"I am going to find out" He mouthed in her direction as the others kept asking him if he was okay

"Never" She replied

He sighed, going to his teammates.

No longer was he falling, instead he was on solid ground….

…right where he wanted to be.


	3. Hunter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AN: The nickname is something that I think sometimes describes Hunter. So it is not official, but it's for my own amusement. Not that I don't love him, it's just that it's true sometimes!

**Hunter "Brooding Idiot" Bradley- Graphophobia: Fear of writing**

****

* * *

 

The crimson ranger liked to lead a simple life.

Traveling to exotic places was over rated, he was perfectly happy to be in Blue Bay Harbor.

He enjoyed the simple things in life.

Of course his reality included ranger powers and a very expensive gas powered dirt bike but who cared? In his opinion, those things were the necessities, so his life was simple.

He liked things to be simple.

Bells and whistles were side notes, the last thing on his mind sometimes. So were troubles, he rather ignore them than deal with them. While being a ranger wasn't simple, he was completely fine with the arrangement. He had teammates that he could depend on; it was kind like they had a little family going on. While most might give him a funny look at this statement, it was true; there was no doubt if you knew the team the way he did.

You had the responsible parents, Cam and Tori, who were not a couple but acted like they were punishing children (himself and the others) at times. Then there were the little brothers, Blake and Dustin, who were cool, calm and collected…and in Dustin's case a jokester. And finally you had Shane and himself, who were the big brothers of the group. The ones that fought, teased, all of the above at times; the ones who had the competitive spirit racing through their veins.

That being said, a 'family' picnic was something that fit very well into his simplistic life style; especially one that was at the beach. They had divided what to bring by a simple fact.

Well, it was actually two facts.

Tori could cook.

And they could not.

Although Dustin wasn't too bad in the kitchen, they gave her the pleasure of bringing the sandwiches, potato salad, and apple pie. The green, navy, and yellow rangers had set off to lug off all the stuff to the beach, to find a good spot. That had left himself and Shane to go chip/ drink shopping.

It was a simple task, one of course had blossomed into a full out obstacle course. That had led to them sprinting down the aisles to see who could get the goods faster and checkout. Pushing and shoving had led to them almost getting kicked out of the store. Finally getting out of the store with armfuls of dried potatoes and bubbly liquids, they had arrived to the others' location rather quickly.

Then, as Blake called it sometimes, his 'forgetfulness' kicked in.

"Damn it" Hunter muttered, feeling around in his pocket for the missing object

"What did you lose now bro?" The navy ranger appeared as his search came up empty

"My phone" The older thunder ninja sighed, there was not telling where it was. He would have to backtrack to the store and see the employees glare at him. Maybe he could wear a hat? But the crimson clothes would give him away. Perhaps the others could run interference, Dustin and Blake could duke it out in the parking lot or even better would be Tori accusing them of something…curses would fly, it would be perfect. They might look like rednecks doing it, but it would be hilariously perfect.

"Why are you rubbing you hands together like you have an evil idea?" The blond looked to Dustin, then to his hands. Their previously devious activity stopped imminently.

"Hunter lost his phone" Blake filled them in

"Perhaps it fell out of your pocket when you ran into the cereal boxes" The red ranger suggested with an evil smirk.

"You mean when I was **pushed**  into the boxes of lucky charms" The statement was shot back with a smile on his face

"You ran into them"

"You pushed me"

"Ran"

"Pushed"

"Ran"

"Pushed"

Not about to be beat, his opponent in the verbal competition said "Prove it"

"How about we ask the stock boy that you almost slammed into?" Hunter's grin grew wider as Shane's eyes narrowed at the mention of the event that had happened only minutes ago

"You pushed me into him"

"Just like you didn't push me into the boxes?"

"What's this about pushing?" Their glares broke to see Tori looking not amused at all.

"Nothing" The crimson thunder said smoothly

She raised an eyebrow in suspicion, before putting the picnic basket in the crook of her arm on the checkered blanket.

Everything was going exactly to plan.

While they all enjoyed lunch together, the five boys had schemed to get her fear from her. Curiosity about what scared her was on their minds, they really wanted to know. Dustin's attempt had failed miserably so they had reasoned that bringing her to the beach was a very good idea. The sun and surf was her element, it would calm her; perhaps to the level where they could ask the question that she had avoided answering the last few days.

So when she was relaxed, they would strike.

But before that could happen, he needed to find his phone.

"Why don't you call it, perhaps someone will pick up?" Cam suggested while helping their female member set out the food.

"That's a great idea" He muttered, knowing that a very angry manager would probably toss his cellular device in the trash if he knew it was his. Shane sighed, knowing the situation that the others were unaware of, handing over his phone to the crimson ranger.

He raised an eyebrow at the gesture, usually he would expect the air ninja to laugh at his misfortune, not give him his phone. Knowing himself very well, it was a possibility that he could lose it.

"I thought that it would be best if you used mine, after all, I was the one who pushed you" Shane grinned at the memory of curses flying from a pissed Hunter

"At least you admitted it…" The dirty blond began to dial the number "…sorry about the stock boy thing" Putting the phone to his ear, he did not expect the pain a moment later.

The source of the pain was a smack upside the head that both the crimson and red ranger felt.

"Shit" Hunter groaned rubbing his head

"Owwwww" Shane winced, looking to his attacker

"Why did you do that?" Dustin asked to Tori who was glaring at them

"Why can't you two go shopping without fighting?" The water ranger ignored the question saying the sentence with a tone of irritation

"We weren't fighting" The skateboarder retorted

"They were probably trying to prove their alpha male dominance….again" Cam stated

Both reds rolled their eyes at the comment.

"Hunter…" The elder Bradley looked to his brother "…phone"

Turning his attention back to the device that he had completely forgotten about during the moment, Hunter found that someone had actually answered.

"Hello, is anybody there?" The voice seemed so familiar

"Hi, I lost my phone and I was calling to see if someone would answer it. My name is…" He was cut off

"Hunter Bradley, I know your name all too well"

How the hell did she know that, who was she?

"Do I know you?" Hunter eyed the phone, like he could glare at the person on the other side by doing so.

A chuckle was heard "It's Kelly, the person nice enough to give you a job"

"It's you?" He grinned at his own stupidity; he should have been able to recognize he voice

"Yep, it's me and I have your phone"

A few details later, he knew that she and his phone were at Storm Chargers. It was a great relief, he was only few minutes away and there would be no brawling in the parking lot of a random grocery store. Tossing the phone back to Shane, he informed his friends that he would be right back and not to start without him.

"We won't, just hurry up or someone will eat your piece of pie" He rolled his eyes at Tori's comment before taking off towards his place of current employment.

It was simple.

Get his phone, get back to eat, and then grill the blue ranger about her fear.

A simplistic plan, which worked perfectly for him.

Now he just had to get to Storm Chargers…

And then get back to the beach before Shane ate his pie.

* * *

It had been a normal day for her.

It had been a normal day.

Then music had blasted through her shop.

_With a taste of my lips you're on a ride_

_I'm toxic, you're slipping under_

_With a taste of my poison, paradise_

_You're addicted to me, cus you know that I'm toxic_

_[AN: These are not the actual lyrics of 'Toxic' by Britney Spears, I slightly tweaked them to Hunter's personality. I think that he's toxic, who thinks that this could actually be his ringer? I DO! XD]_

With the customers looking at her strangely, she had managed to find the source of the slightly amusing and slightly disturbing lyrics.

To prevent the ringtone to sing again, she had opened the phone to hoping to hear a greeting of a stranger. Unfortunately for her, all she had heard was…

"Why can't you two go shopping without fighting?"

"We weren't fighting"

"They were probably trying to prove their alpha male dominance….again"

The voices were familiar; she wondered whose phone this was.

"Hunter…" There was then a pause "…phone"

It was one of her employee's voices, Blake. So was the elder Bradley calling her? And why?

Deciding to initiate the conversation, and get her questions answered, she said "Hello, is anybody there?"

"Hi, I lost my phone and I was calling to see if someone would answer it. My name is…" A slightly deeper voice than Blake's began to ramble through the information; she decided to cut him off

"Hunter Bradley, I know your name all too well" It was true, she knew him all too well. After all he worked for her, they saw each other at the motocross track, hell they saw each other every other day.

"Do I know you?" Kelly rolled her eyes, was he really that dense?

But then again, he thought that he was talking to a random stranger, so it was a definite possibility that he didn't recognize her voice. A chuckle escaped, due to the fact that she was thinking of the mental image that was going through his head. He probably thought that he was talking to a soccer mom or something. "It's Kelly, the person nice enough to give you a job"

"It's you?" His voice relaxed a bit, he was probably smacking himself for not recognizing her voice.

"Yep, it's me and I have your phone"

After giving him the news that she and his precious device were at the same place he worked almost everyday, she manned the counter. With the customers thinning out, she waited.

Like most people, she was not a very patient person.

Waiting…

It was growing old.

Thankfully for her, the mailman decided to show up with the packages that she had been expecting for over a week. After helping him unload the products, she made a mental note to get her three stock boys to do inventory soon. Grabbing his clipboard, she scrawled her name to sign for the delivery, expecting him to be off and for Hunter to come through the door.

Both predictions were wrong.

"I have a package for Blake Bradley to be delivered here" She turned to look at the older man

"I'll sign for it" He was her employee, it would work perfectly fine.

"I need Mr. Bradley to sign for it, it's a very expensive package" She mentally slapped herself.

Blake had mentioned getting a new part for his bike, which must be what the package was. While anyone could sign for the smaller items she had purchased, the large package that she pictured sitting in the truck outside was probably on the top of the guy's 'do not get stolen' list.

"Look, he works here, can't I…" She was, to her irritation, cut off in her sentence

"No, it's a company policy that all packages over a certain weight have to be signed for by the one who ordered it" So it was the bike part…

She was getting frustrated, had it been a younger person who wasn't such a stickler for the rules, this would have never been a problem. What was she going to do?

"Kel!"

And the angels sung as the answer to her problem came through the door.

She could make this work…

"Blake, hi"

…she would make it work.

* * *

Phase one of his plan was done.

He had finally made it to Storm Chargers, despite the fact that he had been slowed by the traffic surrounding the beach. Stupid cars hadn't let him, a nice young man, cross the street without trying to run him over. He had of course responded to the act with curses and yelling, which induced glares from the older drivers. They probably thought that he was a juvenile delinquent, which he was not! Well then again…he had destroyed a nice display of food and encouraged a race between himself and Shane, plus he had glared at the employees when they had threatened to throw them out. But he fought crime and kept the city safe, so it all balanced out. At least he hoped so.

"Kel!" He called, seeing the person that he was looking for

"Blake, hi" That stopped him, what the hell? Had Kelly had a lapse in brain function? She knew it was him, he didn't look a thing like Blake; which was one of the reasons that most were surprised to learn that they were brothers.

"Blake Bradley?" A man asked, Hunter realized that he hadn't noticed the guy when coming in. Oops, he thought, another thing that he hadn't seen.

Taking a second to look at Kelly, seeing that she was giving him a 'go with it' glare, he smiled "Yup, that's me"

"I have a package for you" It must be the part that his brother had been rambling about forever, the one that would make his bike 'faster' and 'better'. He had of course retaliated with declaring that no matter how fast his bike was, that he would beat him; cus that was his job as older brother.

"Cool" The word came out smoothly, seeing what Kelly was trying to pull. It was a good plan that he was happy to go along with; helping his brother was something that he tried to do as often as possible.

Expecting a box to land in his arms, the crimson ranger was surprised and shocked to see a clipboard instead.

"Um…" He saw the pen and the line; he twitched at the thought of the past

" _Hunter Bradley, please come to my desk"_

_Swinging his little legs from underneath the desk, he walked with slow steps up to his teacher's looming desk of doom. She didn't smile, on stare blankly at him._

" _Yes Miss Apple?" He smirked, she hated being called that. Even at his young age, he was already becoming a sarcasm filled person._

" _My name is Miss Appleton" Her eyes slightly narrowed in irritation_

_Batting his lashes in a innocent way he replied "But it's easier to say that way"_

_The older woman sighed, before saying "Never mind. Hunter, there was a problem with your test"_

_What was wrong with it? His eyebrows furrowed, he had studied forever with Dad; he was sure that he had gotten an A. Even his new baby brother had wanted to help, trying to sound out the words with his little kid lisp._

" _Did I get something wrong?" His voice was smaller now, had he gotten a lot wrong? His fingers began to tap against his side, something he did only when he was nervous._

_Had everything he had tried to do, something he thought to be proud of, been a failure?_

The mailman gave him a strange look "I need you to sign for your package"

"Oh, g-gotcha" He stuttered, picking up the pen; his fingers tap the underside of the clipboard.

_Tap-Tap._

_A two count, he tried to focus on the pattern; to calm himself down._

" _No, that's not it…" He let out a sigh of relief, his hard work had paid off; he couldn't wait to tell…_

" _It's your handwriting" His eyes went wide, he gulped._

_He had tried to get better, but it was always a disaster. Hours of practice with his very practice mother and still nothing. Spelling wasn't a problem, but his scrawl always was…_

" _I couldn't read one of your answers, could you please rewrite it?"_

… _unreadable._

"Blake?" He heard Kelly call in question

"I'm fine" Managing to smooth out his voice, he tightened his grasp on the pen

Tap-Tap-Tap

A bead of sweat formed, he tried to slow his breaths.

_A collective snicker arose in the class of second graders, he turned back to see them grinning; just as he had been. His cheeks flushed, embarrassment built up in him. Clutching the paper that had been given to him, the pencil in hand threatening to break; he tried to focus. He knew the answer, but…_

" _Chicken scratch" One voice hissed_

_His eyes going to the floor, he felt worthless._

_All the other kids could write beautifully, but the lines he drew were horrible mangled. Why couldn't he twirl the lines into cursive, why was any attempt ending in failure?_

_Why him?_

Knowing that they were watching him, he slowly moved his hand.

Blake….

Taking a deep breath, he reassured himself. You can do this, you can do this, he chanted.

Tap-Tap-Tap

He froze, knowing it wasn't him.

_Her foot was tapping in impatience._

" _Mr. Bradley, please hurry up"_

_Another smothered laugh rose up the class, the woman didn't hear it; but he did. It was crystal clear, what they thought of him._

_A failure, that's what they knew he was._

Scrawling his last name, he flung the clipboard back at the man before vanishing into the back room. Pulling himself onto the workbench in the back, he hit the back of his head on the wall. Not caring about the package or what the others wanted, he tried to stop the tears.

_BRRRRRIIIINNG!_

_Grabbing his backpack, he dashed out of the room._

_Maybe he could forget, put it all behind him…_

" _Hey chicken scratch, why do you suck so much?" A kid from his class laughed in his ear, his friends joining in. Trying desperately to ignore them, he tried to find his dad's car. He could get in and forget, try to forget…_

_Then he saw it, the familiar color and style._

_Taking off, he ran away from everything._

_But it still followed._

" _LOSER!"_

_A single tear ran down his cheek as his stride faltered. Somehow keeping his balance he opened the car door and climbed in. Keeping his head bowed, he hoped that the driver wouldn't notice. He didn't want to deal with that, not now; not ever._

" _Wunter?"_

"Hunter?"

Looking up, there was Blake. Wiping away the one tear that had escaped his self control, he met his brother's gaze.

"Hey" His voice was hoarse; he hoped that he could get away with…

"The others told me to tell you to hurry…what's wrong?" Little brother is on the case, damn.

" _Hey Blake" Two little eyes were looking at him, a small smile on the younger boy's face_

" _What's woung?" He resisted the urge to chuckle, so young and he already knew that something was wrong._

" _Nothing, how are you?" The parent in the front seat raised an eyebrow but said nothing_

" _Okay!" His little brother squealed, before reaching a small hand out at him_

" _Good, little brothers should be happy" He smirked, giving the hand a tight squeeze in substitution for the hug that the younger wanted._

"Nothing" The elder Bradley lied as Kelly entered with a box in hand

Giving him a strange look, she handed the part to him "Your bike part just arrived" before exiting the room as quickly as she had come.

"Nice…" The navy ninja smiled, but then frowned "…but how did…"

Waiting for his brother to figure it out, he counted down…

Three, two, and….

"You didn't" The younger thunder ninja sent down the package on the counter

"I did" He replied, his voice coming back just a bit

"You shouldn't…" Blake knew of what had happened, it had been explained to him when he had been older. He cut the navy ranger off.

"What kind of a big brother would I be if I hadn't?" Hunter challenged

"A smart one" He chuckled at the comment

"Well it's done, you have your bike part" Rolling his eyes, he shot back the statement, ignoring the insult

"Let's go, the others are waiting" Hopping off the counter, the past forgotten, he walked out Storm Charger's doors with Blake by his side.

"You didn't have to" Shaking his head, he knew that what had been said was wrong

"Little brothers should be happy, which means that if the part makes you happy then I should get the part" He replied, he knew Blake was rolling his eyes.

About to arrive at the beach he heard his brother say "While being an idiot, you are still the best big brother ever"

" _Big brothers swould be wike you" His grin grew a bit bigger_

" _Why's that?" He asked, the incident fading_

" _Cus you're the bwest big brother ever!"_

With a smile, they arrived to the site of the picnic, the others smiling at their arrival.

"You're late" Dustin said as the crimson male flopped into a beach chair

"Whatever" He retorted

They all were happy, but he did not miss the evil smirk on the air ninja's face. His food being handed to him, he searched for his piece of pie.

The piece that was nonexistent, there wasn't even crumbs.

"Shane…" He growled

"I wrapped your piece up" Tori said, handing him a plate covered with foil

Wanting to enjoy dessert before his meal, he unwrapped hid deliciously baked fruit in a crust. Upon what he saw, he glared.

"Why is there a bite out of it?"

The red ranger shrugged while trying to hide a snicker, which wasn't going so well.

Dropping the container, he stood and Shane took off like a bullet.

Racing after him, he forgot the package; he forgot writing all together.

Writing was something that made his life complicated…

"SHANE!" Hunter bellowed

…and he liked things simple.


	4. Blake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ANN: In the beginning it may seem like Hunter bashing, it's not, but it's just Blake's view of the crimson ninja's behavior sometimes.
> 
> ANNN: This is a double feature, two fears. They go hand in hand, so it works. This chapter will be very long due to the fact that there are two fears and that it is a much darker explanation of why Blake has those fears.
> 
> WARNING: This chapter is much much darker than the others before it; I have considered upping the rating on the story due to this chapter. You have been warned!

**Blake Bradley- Hoplophobia:Fear of guns and Nosocomephobia:** **Fear of hospitals**

****

* * *

 

Cool, calm, collected…possibly even emotionally grounded if you really thought about it.

That's what people might say about him if given the challenge to describe him in a few words.

Relaxed perhaps or maybe even sweet.

You could even call him an asshole, as Tori had done when he had taken Sensei in revenge, but thankfully she had gotten over that when the situation had been completely explained. It had taken a lot of convincing to get the wind ninjas to believe that he had been evil and misinformed about what had happened concerning his parents' deaths. It had been a great day for him; she had accepted them and forgiven the past. Now he was teammates with her and was able to see her smiling face every day.

He rarely got angry, the most that you would get in that department was a death glare and perhaps a few curse words muttered under his breath. The reason for that was that his brother, the seventh wonder of world that sometimes did not considered that thinking might be a good idea, needed to be held back one in a while…well, more like once a month…okay, okay; it was once a day but who's counting? Oh right, he was.

As the navy ranger, he was the grounded one of the Bradley Brother duo (as Dustin had once dubbed them, somehow it had stuck), who balanced out his hothead of an elder. To do that, he required an amount of control. Being in control of his reality he could be sharp, precise with his movements; also being able to deliver a slap upside the head to a specific ninja. With the ability to do what he needed to do when he needed to do it he was able to support his team, kick ass, and keep his brother from potentially killing himself.

All that being said, he, Blake Bradley, liked to be in control. Alert, focused, ready for anything like a good ninja should be. Not that he didn't relax, let go of the world around him for some amount of time, but a part of his brain was always on standby for an attack.

Wanting to be in control was one of the reasons he did not do specific things. One of those things was surfing, because while Tori looked like an angel doing it, he failed miserably and nine times out of ten slid right off the board. Then the blue water ranger would giggle at him and encourage him to try again. He would, with a smile, and five seconds later end up with a mouth full of sea water. Surfacing, he would find the others laughing with Tori glaring at them as she helped him up. Another thing was that he did not, even though the other rangers did to an extent except for Cam, drink.

He thought the alcohol as a whole tasted nasty, he had many times wondered why people pored the burning liquid down their throat. The first, and last time in his opinion although his brother said otherwise, he had tasted the horrid stuff; the night had ended with him dressed completely and utterly in drag. Makeup, breast pads, and glitter included. Somehow, he did not remember any of it, but his elder insisted that he looked stunning in a completely sparkle covered navy dress. Thinking, hoping to god, that it was a joke; he found that the absurd story was true via some very embarrassing photos. It had only been the two of them that night, but Hunter could still show them to the others. The horror of having the others seeing drove him to ransack his brother's room in search of the incriminating blackmail. Hunter, of course, had burst in half way through his search and in his hand had been the photos. Launching himself at the dirty blond, their wrestling match quickly turned to a ninja battle. After fighting the crimson ranger tooth and nail, he had finally been able to find the evidence and tear them to shreds. With that done, he had promised himself something.

He would never drink again.

It was a very noble cause, to avoid embarrassment, and he knew with his practiced self control (the same he used to avoid smashing Hunter's face in on a daily basis for hinting at his crush to Tori) would help him keep his campaign for no beer in check. He knew he could do it and he would.

Question was, with all that was said above, why the hell was he in a bar?

Oh right, it had been the brilliant idea of his big brother. He really wasn't sure why he had agreed to it, but he was here so there was nothing to do but wait.

Since Dustin's plan of asking her and Cam's plan of a picnic had failed, the crimson ranger had a light bulb appear over his head. Why not take their female member drinking? When the crimson wonder had suggested it, he had found himself the target of three well placed death glares. How could he suggest such a thing? That's just what they needed, for Hunter to take Tori out drinking; that was disaster in the making. Then the elder Bradley had proceeded to explain that if they could get her slightly drunk, then she might be less loose with her tongue and finally tell them what the hell scared her! It had been driving them mad the last few days, but not the ninjas were sure that they were on the edge of possible insanity due to the fact that curiosity had overwhelmed their brains to the point where if they asked Tori one more time, she might just kill them.

So here he was, he the 'in control' Bradley, at an establishment that housed the five thousand brands of booze, where there was more skin than you would see at the beach, and where blinding colored lights filled the place.

What was it called again?  _The Sun_ , maybe? Nah. Running a hand through his hair, he thought a bit harder, although Dustin (who had found the place to begin with) had said it so fast that, it was possible that all he was going to get was a memory of a barely comprehendible sentence. Instead of spotlights, there were strobe lights there orange, red, and yellow. It had something to do with the sun, he knew that much.

Sun…he pondered the word before seeing a sign in the reflection of his glass. Turning for a moment to see the full view of the red neon he understood what the earth ninja had been blathering on about.

**Welcome to the Sunfire Lounge**

That made sense, due to the sun mural in one corner, the fact that it was very hot in the room, and that their house liquor was guaranteed to burn your throat.

He had situation himself near the somewhat sheltered bar, nursing an ice water while trying not to go into epileptic shock by looking into the shadows. The others had melted into the crowd with drinks (Beers for the guys and a light beer for Tori who was trying to watch her figure, although she didn't need to.), leaving him on his own. Cam would have been with him, but the green ranger had been kept out of the plan due to the fact that he wouldn't approve of their tactics. He expected that somewhere in the packed room, Tori was taking her time with the three orbiting around her. Perhaps they were on their second round of drinks now or…

"Watch where you're going!"

…they could be involved in a brawl. It wasn't surprising if they were, if anything they were probably defending themselves. After hearing no sounds of something going down, he finished his 'drink' which the bartender proceeded to top off with a sigh. God I'm dull, he thought, before standing up from his stool. Not seeing any of his fellow ninjas, he took a step in a random direction, not sure where to go. Maybe he would stumble across one of his friends, or maybe he would find something to do…

"Shit, sorry man"

Along with the apology, he found himself to be accidently covered in something sticky that smelled nasty. After giving himself on guess of what it was, he walked away from the man who had dumped his drink on him and somehow found the bathroom. Looking in the mirror at the damage done to his navy jacket, he grumbled at his luck. He sighed while rubbing his temples, reviewing the situation at hand. He smelled like beer, one of his favorite jackets was covered in beer, and everyone else was drinking beer…he was surrounded by what he hated, which was beer. Exiting the room, he weaved through the crowd before finally finding the exit.

"Much better" He said aloud while breathing in the slightly chilled air, his lungs appreciating being away from the smell of sweat and alcohol.

Wandering towards where the van was, he propped himself up on the hood. Leaning against the windshield, he stared into the sky. Now all he had to do was wait for the others to show, which could be hours; but he was just fine with that. Maybe he could even take a small nap…Being the nondrinker of the group, he had been appointed the designated driver which he had accepted without any resistance. After all, making sure that they got home safe was the least he could do. Fiddling with the keys in his pocket for a moment, he then put both arms behind his head and took another deep breath.

He was doing nothing.

Doing nothing felt good.

If it was possible, he would do a do nothing session every day…

"Help!"

Ranger instincts kicking in, he leaped off the hood to run to the aid of the female voice. Turning into a back alley, he went to work. Dragging the drunk off of the poor woman, he sent a few good punches to the man's jaw before letting him collapse into the trash. Going back to the trembling lady, he helped her up.

"You okay?" He asked softly, she nodded

"Thank you" Shrugging out of his slightly smelling jacket, he put it over her bare shoulders, knowing that she was cold. Hugging it to her, she smiled a small smile which he mirrored.

"Let's get you insi…" The sentence was cut off by a punch to the gut, trying to regain the breaths lost he fended off the man's attacks. Using a roundhouse kick to knock him back, the navy ninja stole a look to see if the woman was still there.

Thankfully she was not, but the lapse in concentration had led to him catching a punch to the jaw. The force knocked him to the ground, giving the opening that the intoxicated man had been waiting for. A sloppy, but strong kick was delivered to his ribs. Grimacing in pain, he tripped the other man and rose to his feet.

Cursing for letting himself become distracted, he wiped some blood from his busted lip. Noticing that the bastard was getting up, he settled into a defensive stance. Knowing that he would win, he waited.

_Waiting…_

_It wasn't his favorite thing to do, but it was okay since Mommy had bought him some new crayons. Scribbling, he tried to ignore the loud voices. They had been yelling for a while, what were they talking about? He didn't know, so he concentrated on the picture in front of him._

" _That's it, I can't take this anymore; I want a divorce!"_

_Drawers opened and closed with such forced that the sounds echoed the house into the kitchen where he was. He was barely tall enough to sit at the table and color; he used to have to be on the floor. He had decided a long ago that it was much more comfortable in a chair, insisting on sitting there whenever possible while declaring that he was a 'big boy' by doing so._

" _And where the hell do you think your going?"_

" _Away from here, away from you!"_

_In the coloring book there was a big heart, he decided to color it his mom's favorite color. Being very careful to color inside the lines, which was very hard to do when you were five, he filled the heart with the perfect shade of red. Taking a dark blue crayon, his mom told him it was navy; he began to write in the center._

" _I l-o-v-e y-o-u" With his baby squeak, he spelled it out aloud as he wrote it with squiggly letters. Then he put a dash and began to write the final touch to the picture, his name._

_-Bla… That's how far he got before the voices got even louder and his concentration broke. Sighing at the fact that he was going to have to start over, he tried to think of the letters he had missed. He could write his name all the way through but it was difficult to stop and then start again._

Seeing the man was struggling to get up, he began to back away towards the main street. He was about there when, he heard the low voice. It was so similar to what he had heard in the past. Filled with rage and hate, the beer induced slur was there like had been then.

"You ain't going anywhere!"

" _You ain't going anywhere!"_

" _Get your hands off of me you drunken bastard!"_

_The sounds of something hitting the wall reached his ears; he stood on his two feet to take shaky steps, leaving the heart behind. The screams scared him, it sounded like his mom. He loved his mom very much, she colored with him and took him for ice cream and they fed the ducks at the park together, he didn't like hearing her in pain._

_Peeking into his parent's room, he was just in time to see his father hit his mother with a beer bottle. It shattered sending glass everywhere; red liquid began seeping through her dark hair._

" _Ungrateful bitch!" The larger man growled, getting a handful of her hair. Dragging her towards the door, towards where he was, he ran back into the kitchen. Hoisting himself back into the chair, he tried to grip the crayon, but his hand was shaking too much._

_A moment later, his parents entered the room. She was crying which made him even more scared. His dad released her hair and grabbed a beer from the fridge before stumbling towards the table. He only made it halfway before grabbing the counter to slump against it._

" _Mommy!" He jumped off of the chair and ran to her. His mommy wrapped him in a hug which made his body stop shaking. He felt much better with her there, safe._

" _Blake" She said, as she tried to hide the tears_

_But he knew they were there. Not saying anything about them, he walked away from her to go get the heart. Maybe she would stop crying when she saw what he had made, she always like what he made her. He crept past the man he called dad carefully, trying not to do anything to upset him. But with all his trying, his foot still hit the half full beer that had been set on the floor._

_It clanked against the floor; he found himself the target of a glare. Raising himself to his feet, the man raised his fist. A moment later he was thrown to the ground by a hard punch._

" _Worthless boy!"_

_He started to cry, it hurt so much._

_Opening his eyes to see his father pick him by his shirt, his back hit the wall a moment later from where he had been hurled by the large man. He screamed in pain, as the new injury burned._

_He heard the labored male breaths come towards him, he closed his eyes; he hoped that the pain would stop…_

" _STAY AWAY FROM HIM!"_

_He heard daddy howl in pain, while mommy hissed in rage. After a moment, heavy footsteps walked from the room as two hands came to hold him._

" _I'm so sorry baby" She whispered, the voice made his feel a bit better_

_Again, the sound of drawers opening echoed, but he didn't care. Mommy was here with him and that made everything ok. He snuggled deeper into her shirt, everything was okay…_

Not wanting to take this any further, he continued to back slowly away. Perhaps the man would collapse and leave him the hell alone. He could go back to doing nothing, trying to force the memory back to where it had been before. A place where it could never bother him again, buried so deep that nothing could bring it up.

He had promised never to drink.

There were two reasons, although he told everyone that it was the first. It was partially due to the fact that he despised the stuff and partially because it had led to his mother's…

The gleam of an object brought him from his thoughts; he raised his eyes to see it.

Fear ran through his veins, blocking all logic from his mind. He knew what was coming, but he didn't want to think about the pain, or the sound, or the smell of gun powder. He didn't want to see it, but all that existed was it…

_Looking past his mother's shoulder, he saw it._

_The gun that his father kept locked up, aimed at him. The old man breathed a burst of anger as mommy noticed. She let him go to stand, shielding him with her body. Peeking from behind a leg, he stared at it._

_He knew what it did; daddy went hunting for food sometimes. The animals had come home tied to the hood of the car, their eyes staring at him. He didn't go outside anymore when his dad came home, the eyes scared him. The gun was bad mommy had told him, that it was really loud and never to touch it. He hadn't, like he had promised, but he wondered why daddy was pointing at him…it was meant to kill the animals._

" _Don't do this" Her words came out slowly and firmly_

" _I give you a home, food…I even gave you that little screw up and you repay me by running away?" Daddy's breath smelled bad, he covered his nose. He didn't like the smell._

_Silence fell over the room, before his mother spoke "Blake, go outside"_

" _Bwut mommy…" He didn't understand, why did he have to leave?_

" _I'll be right there, okay sweetie?" She turned to smile at him; he nodded his head before walking to the door. Pushing with all his might he was able to open it. Taking the brick steps slowly, due to the pain in his back, he finally felt the grass under his feet._

His eyes went wide, his lungs stopped functioning.

A murderous intent on the man's face, he didn't rationalize what he was about to do. Turning to run, the sky above blurred as his streaking powers came into play. He heard the shot fire, but he was already out of range. Exiting the alley, the inhuman sprint turned into a jog as he crossed the street.

Due to the fear coursing through his veins, he didn't see it.

He had to get away, he didn't want to see it…he didn't want to remember.

Have to get away…the thought prevent him from seeing the car.

He didn't see it in till he felt the sleek metal take his feet from under him. Rolling on the concrete, he heard the driver exit the car. Shaking him, calling for the passenger to call 911, he heard it all; but he just stared into the sky.

The dark blue sky.

_It was pretty outside he decided, he wished he could sleep outside. That would be so cool, but mommy wouldn't let him. She said it would give him the flu, so he slept in his bed._

" _Son?" Turning, he saw the nice man from next door looking at him. Staring at him, he wondered why the man had called him son, he wasn't his son. It was strange that the man had called him that._

" _Yes swir?" He tried to make his words clear but his lisp kept getting in the way._

" _Why are you outside at this late hour?" The words were soft as the man knelt down to be about his height._

" _Mommy twold me twoo" The man smiled at his reply, before they both heard something_

_It was so loud; he covered his ears before looking to the place where the sound had come from._

_His house, his eyes went wide._

" _Mommy!" He yelled, about to run towards the door when the man grabbed him. Other neighbors began to appear; the man told them to call 911. He struggled against the strong hand, what had happened?_

_He was so confused, where was mommy?_

_Then there were lights, they were colorful._

_Red and Blue, just like his and mommy's favorite colors._

Everything hurt, even his eyelids; which were closed at the moment.

"Sir?" Someone was talking, a lot of people were talking; there were sirens. He tried to move, but it hurt too much. Groaning with the attempt, he heard someone stick something in his arm. Reacting badly to the needle, his burning limbs tried to resist only to be held down.

"Got the IV in place?"

"Yep, has he said anything?"

"Not yet"

"Sir, can you hear me?"

Head pounding, he found that his chest felt as though a thousand needles had stabbed him.

"Do we have an ID yet?"

Someone was going through his pockets; he did not like the feeling. He had left his wallet in the car, no need bringing it when you only needed you your license when buying drinks.

"Nope, but we have a phone"

"Call the ice contact; let's get him on the stretcher"

The ground disappeared, he groaned at the movement. Then he was on an angle, which was not comfortable. Somehow opening his eyes, he saw the sky disappear; replaced by the interior of what he knew to be an ambulance. Whatever he was on moved and he saw spots at the pain. Breathing heavily, his head throbbed.

He felt unconsciousness creeping upon him as someone sat beside him.

The vehicle lurched ahead sending a shockwave of pain through him, making him gasp.

"Can you tell me your name?" The lady was trying to keep him busy, awake, but he felt the darkness consuming him.

"Blake" His eyelids fluttered, threatening to close

Then the pain would be gone, he wouldn't feel it.

The idea sounded good, he gave in.

Ignoring his name being called…

Ignoring the rocking of the ambulance…

Ignoring the sound of the siren…

All he saw was the flashing red and blue lights…

…then nothing.

* * *

Taking a moment to rub his eyes due to the fact that the screen in front of him was blurring, he considered if he should check in with the others.

They had gone out to a 'movie'; he knew they had gone out clubbing. They had tried to keep it from him, it was a good idea to do so, but he knew everything that had happened in Ninja Ops. It might have something to do with the fact that there were cameras everywhere, complete with microphones. He hadn't said anything, knowing that Blake would keep them from doing anything stupid. The navy ranger had renounced alcohol, which they had all respected. Knowing that the smaller thunder was going to be sober gave him the confidence to let them go ahead with their plan.

The plan was not the best that could have been thought of, but it could work. Tori did not get angry when drunk, it was the exact opposite. Due to that fact, she might just spill what they all wanted to know. Besides, he knew that no harm would come to her with the others there.

A screen popped up in front of the programming he had been doing, a small beep bringing him from his thoughts.

_Call from Blazin'_

He sighed at the screen name, apparently the rangers had bribed cyber cam to change them. So now lining his thin contacts list was…Skaterboi, Eat my dust dude!, Waverider, Crimsonstreak (Previously Hot Hunter but Tori had changed it after smacking the blonde upside the head), Blazin', and….He still couldn't believe that they had named him this…Lucky, you know the marshmallow guy. When asking why the hell he was named after a cereal character, Dustin had replied 'He's a leprechaun and you're the green ranger dude. It works!' The five evil people also known as his teammates had also deleted cyber cam's memory of the password to change it. He was still trying to crack it.

Then, when the message didn't disappear, he realized that it was strange that the message was even popping up. Grabbing his headset, he prepared to answer the call.

Usually the rangers used their morphers to communicate and never did they call the computer. He had put the program there so that they could call to get his attention in case of an emergency…

Taking a deep breath to push off the worry, he pressed the space bar to answer "Hello?"

"This is Officer John Sean, who am I talking too?"

Why did the police have Blake's phone? Cam sighed; the navy ninja had probably gotten arrested with the others when they had gotten into a brawl. If the others knew how to do anything, it was to protect the team. If one person, he was betting on Hunter or Shane, got into a fight; the others were sure to follow.

Figures that they got arrested.

"Cameron Watanabe, I'm Blake's roommate" Simple lie that was easy to believe, it was the story that they had agreed on ahead of time to prepare for if something like this, which it would eventually, happened.

"Blake, what is his full name?" His brows furrowed, they were calling about Blake right?

"Blake Bradley, did something happen?" He replied quickly, expecting to hear about how someone had thrown a drink or hit on Tori. That's what he bet happened, with the guys defending her in their regular manner. A manner which included snarling, cussing, and lots of punches; the normal way of dealing with things: men style.

Instead to his surprise and horror…

"Mr. Bradley was hit by a car"

"You can't be serious" It had to be a mistake, a prank or something, how could a ninja be hit by a frikin car! They were trained to avoid objects, mostly punches, but still…dodging something that you could easily see coming your way was part of the first lesson. It was impossible for trained person (especially a ranger for that matter!) to be as stupid as to cross the damn street with out looking, unless said ninja was drunk, it was still improbable. Blake hadn't even been drinking, so that ruled his theory out. He couldn't wait to hear the explanation for either: a) the prank call, like how they had paid someone to illegally impersonate a cop or b) how Hunter had gotten hit and somehow given the wrong name. He couldn't wait to hear how they were going to explain that to him.

"I am, he was…"

"Dark hair, dark skin?" He cut the 'cop' off; he wasn't in the mood for pranks.

"What?" The 'officer' sounded annoyed, perhaps because the jig was up.

"Just confirming that it's Blake, did he have dark skin and hair?" Conformation that it was Hunter would help him prepare for a distressed Blake, IF and only IF, it wasn't a prank.

"Yeah, short guy with a navy shirt on"

Oh shit…twenty questions was over. Blake would never go along with using himself for a prank and that fit a basic description of the navy ninja. This was not good…

Due to the silence, he assumed the cop thought he was in shock (which he was) and all he heard was "Your roommate was hit by a car; he is on his way to Mercy hospital right now"

"Thank you" The words managed to get out before he ended the call and darted through the room. Scooping up his phone he dialed the phone as he streaked through the forest. There were a thousand things he should have grabbed, like perhaps a jacket for once in got cold, but it didn't matter.

Did the others know? The fact that he had been called by the police suggested the answer to that question to be no. He doubted that the first call he would have gotten would have been from the cop, a teary Tori was more what he would have expected. They needed to know: Hunter was going to lose his mind; the others were going to be in worry filled frenzy mode.

Lights of the city surrounded as he slowed to a sprint as he reached the sliding doors of the hospital, he heard the ringing in his ear. Standing in the middle of the room, he was given glares from the nurses about blocking traffic. But he glared right back, they could go to hell.

_Ring…_

_Ring…_

_Ring…_

Out of all the times for Hunter to keep his phone off! Cell phones were used to keep in touch, contact people; what use did they have IF YOU KEPT THEM OFF? Cursing the blonde for being an idiot, like Blake had done so many times that it was now his brother's nickname, he tried Shane's number.

_Ring…_

_Ring…_

_Ring…_

He was going to make in mandatory for all the rangers to keep their phones on, after he strangled them! Not even going to attempt Dustin, he had a hunch that the result would be the same, he tried Tori.

_Ring…_

"Hey Cam"

She picked up on the first ring; there was a reason that she was called the 'responsible' one of the group!

"Tori…" He ran off, he wasn't sure what to say.

RANGER DOWN, I REPEAT RANGER DOWN! Screaming that would not be the best idea, the pissed workers might just cart him off to the nut house. Either that or they would throw him out of the building, which would not be good on any day.

"What's wrong?" Her voice was clearly worried even with the loud music trying to drown her out.

"Blake, he's…" The doors of the hospital burst opened as the paramedics pushed the stretcher quickly past him. The phone dropped put of his hand to the floor where the battery popped out.

But he didn't care, as the limp body of his fellow ranger disappeared from view.

* * *

Something was up, she knew that much.

It had been an innocent idea to begin with, but suspicion had come to mind when Dustin had asked whether she was feeling dizzy. While she felt grateful for his concern, it grew old after the third time he had asked.

Finally figuring out their plan had been simplistic; after all they had been grilling her about her fear the days beforehand. She was going to kill someone if they asked her again, she was betting on it being the earth ninja.

Escaping her guards, err friends, she weaved over towards a slightly less crowded area of the club. The lights weren't as bright, the music wasn't as loud, and she wasn't being watched.

A vibration throughout her body sent her to her pocket, who could be calling? Catching a quick glance at the phone, she smiled before answering.

"Hey Cam"

Knowing their plan to get her drunk, she knew why Cam had not come along. The green ranger would have been furious as she was at the moment.

"Tori…" His tone was soft and shocked, something had happened.

"What's wrong?" Shielding her ear from the noise, her nerves frayed a bit as there was a pause.

"Blake, he's…"

Then there was nothing, just silence.

Her eyes went wide; she scanned for the navy thunder to find nothing.

Pushing thought the crowd; she found the others very quickly.

"Have you seen Blake?" The ninjas eyed her; Shane cupped his ear as a signal that they couldn't hear her. Of course they couldn't.

"WHERE IS BLAKE?" Almost screaming it so that they could hear her, the three shook shrugged as a sign that they didn't know.

"No need to yell" Reading Dustin's lips, she heard his muttered comment over the music

"Probably went outside" Hunter shot back as he moved towards the exit with them following.

Blake was probably sitting by the van, that's what they expected when they opened the door. A smiling face was not what they were greeted with, the unexpected almost blinding them.

Flashing lights, the very bad kind, shined into their faces.

"What the hell?" Shane asked, to no one in particular, as the four took in the sight of two police cars, a crowd of people, and a slightly dented car with its owner talking to an officer. Something had happened, curiosity crept into their minds with different scenarios, for the moment; Blake was forgotten.

"Heard some guy got run over" A person near them filled in

"Ran right out into traffic" Another rolled his eyes

"Idiot" A third commented

"Will you listen to me? That bastard tried to rob me!"

The voice drew their attention to a woman talking (or trying to) to another officer (one that was on the phone), but it wasn't the person who kept their attention. Honestly, they could care less about the lady; the legal law (Rangering wasn't exactly approved of by the government, not that they had ever tried to talk to them or anything) was doing a great job of assisting the victim, their wonderful services were not needed and so their attention was on other objects at the moment. Perfect example being…

"Where did you get that jacket?" Tori had crossed the gap between her and the stranger in a moment's time with the guys a second behind. It was dark, a slightly darker shade than the usual spandex than saw but it was no doubt the color navy. The same jacket that they knew that their driver had been wearing, question was: why was in on some girl's back? If any, the guys expected it to be on Tori's back, but a random chick? Something was going on.

"The guy who saved me from this bastard gave it to me" Motioning to a man sitting in the squad car near by, she glared for a moment before looking back to them.

"His name is Blake Bradley" The cop supplied after closing the phone he had been on

"Blake…" The woman smiled at the thought of the handsome man, in the back of her mind, Tori growled. The navy was part of her boys; another girl swooning over him really did not amuse her.

The officer, who looked very tired, asked with a sigh "After Mr. Bradley saved you, what happened?"

Hearing his brother's name, Hunter leaned in to hear well. His big brother instincts were going into overdrive, had something happened to Blake? The others did the same, worried about their teammate.

"He…" She thumbed at the arrested "…got back up and started fighting with Blake."

"I think we know who won that fight" The yellow ranger snickered, chuckles coming from the other ninjas. A ninja, a very good one, versus a drunk criminal; what a fair fight…not. In the back of Dustin's mind, he mused that they should have filmed it and sold it to Pay-per-view. An Awesome Ninja vs. A Moronic Dumbass-a butt kicking of a lifetime; only 29.99!

"What happened next?" The guy really wanted to go home and sleep.

"The guy pulls a gun on him"

"Oh shit" Hunter's eyes went wide. After what had happened, the navy ninja hated the thought of…he was fine with the ranger blasters, but regular firearms…He had to find Blake now.

"Where were you while this was happening?"

She rolled her eyes "I was in the shadows, I couldn't just leave the guy alone"

"Where is he?" All eyes turned to an extremely frazzled, on the edge, crimson ranger

Who's only thought was that he needed to find Blake.

When no one answered, he repeated the question in a more aggressive tone, which probably wasn't the best idea due to the fact that it was an officer that he was talking to.

"Where. Is. Blake?"

He had to find him.

Now.

"And who would you be?" The law asked in an irritated tone

"Hunter Bradley, I'm his  **adopted**  brother" Due to the fact that he looked nothing like Blake, he enunciated the word adopted to keep off the question that was soon to come.

"We are his friends; can you tell us what happened to him?" Shane added to include the wind ninjas

The cop was looking skeptical.

"Please?" Tori narrowed her blue eyes on him in a soft manner

With a sigh, the badge replied "Mr. Bradley, by her account…" He pointed to the woman in Blake's jacket "…saw the gun and then ran away…" He was then interrupted

"Blake hates guns, that reaction is normal" The wind ninjas raise eyebrows at the thunder ranger; it was the first time they had heard of Blake not liking guns.

With an irritated tone, the officer continued "He ran out into the road…"

The rangers didn't hear the rest, remembering what someone had said only a moment ago.

" _Heard some guy got run over"_

Oh shit, it wasn't…

"WHERE?" Hunter growled; worry filling him to the point that he might just hurt someone if he didn't see his brother now! Scanning the scene of the accident, there was no body the vaguely looked like Blake.

An answer was not coming fast enough for his tastes, so he repeated his question, more like a demand, in a even more aggressive and possibly menacing manner.

"WHERE. IS. HE?" The surrounding people, not including the ranger who were used to it, proceeded to back away slowly with wide eyes. Joining the others at glaring at the cop, who somehow was keeping a cool demeanor, he knew that if SOMEONE didn't tell him SOMETHING about Blake; someone was going to get their head torn off.

"Mercy hospital"

Not planning on listening to anything else, the dirty blond took off in a sprint towards his target. Footsteps slightly behind him told that the other were right behind him. When the shadows consumed and the public was out of view, all he became was a streak. A crimson streak of worry and fear, the primary colors right on his tail.

Blake was at the hospital, in what condition, he had no idea.

So here he was, running to find out how his brother was at the moment. While he was concerned about the physical injures, it was the mental impact of the gun that was worrying him. He knew the reason why Blake would abandon all facts and run blindly into the road, it was part of the past that the navy ninja had kept hidden from everyone. He had found out due to the fact that his father had told him so that he could protect Blake from the memories. But he hadn't been there, which made anger, guilt, and worry course through his veins.

But none of his feelings mattered as he slid to a stop just in time to slide between the double doors of the hospital. Managing to avoid a nurse, who glared, and moving just in time to let the other rangers do the same as he had; he was proud that he had been able to avoid a human pile up in the middle of the floor. Panting, he looked up to see a fellow ranger.

But not the one he was looking for.

"Cam?"

* * *

_Why wouldn't they tell him?_

_The nice man from next door had given him over to the…para…parame…the boo-boo people when they had arrived. A lady had taken him to the hospital, to where he was now, which was lying in a big white bed. It was a comfy bed; it was much bigger than his racecar bed at home. He liked his car bed, although he wished they had a motorcycle bed; that would have been much cooler. He was here because his arm had been thrown out of socket, from where Daddy had thrown him against the wall, it had hurt when the doctor had popped it back in. No matter how many times he asked, they wouldn't give him a straight answer, they wouldn't tell him where mommy was._

_A nurse was cleaning a scratch on his face; he winced as a small amount of pain registered. She pulled back for a moment "Did that hurt?"_

_He nodded, she sighed "Sorry honey"_

" _It's sokay" She smiled at the sentence, many she could tell him_

" _Where's mommy?"_

_The grin fell, as she continued to wipe his face. Had something happened to mommy, why would no one answer him? When the loud gun had gone off, where had mommy been…what had happened?_

" _Mommy?" He asked in the pitiful tone that daddy spanked him for using_

" _She's in surgery" The lady wasn't making eye contact; he had a hunch that she was keeping something from him._

" _Why?" He had always been a curious boy; Mommy said that it was good that he asked questions. She always explained, in great detail, what he was asking about. Like when he asked why he was named Blake, she had replied 'Blake means dark and handsome, which is exactly what you were when I first saw you. A beautiful, dark haired baby' Then she had given him a big hug._

" _They had to fix her boo-boo" The sentence came out kind and soft, with a touch of sympathy._

" _Her head?" It must have been where Daddy hit Mommy with the bottle._

" _Yes, it was really bad boo-boo"_

" _Oh"_

_That answered his question, for the moment, later he wanted to see Mommy. He wanted a hug; she gave the best hugs, better than anyone else. Maybe she would let him fiddle with her long dark hair; twist it to the point where she would have to stop him from making a not. Or maybe they could play the name game, where they spelled out their names with different words. She always did his in a certain way…_

_**B** _ _eautiful baby boy_

_**L** _ _ucky to have you_

_**A** _ _curious person_

_**K** _ _night, a sweet knight_

_**E** _ _ver loving_

_Then she would always say "And that spells Blake, my little baby" He would always protest that he wasn't little, he was almost a man after all! She would laugh and hug him tighter "You'll always be my baby"._

_Brining him from his thoughts was a loud voice._

" _SHE'S CRASHING!"_

_The nurse ran from the room, he hoisted himself up higher to look out the door a bit further. All he saw was a bunch of people around a bed like his, doing different things with strange tools. Being curious, it was his nature, he slowly slid to the side. Trying to ignore the pain in his bruised back, he lowered himself before dropping to the floor. Stumbling to keep his balance, he stood solidly for a moment before walking out of the room towards the group of doctor people. Going through a door, he found that everyone was wearing masks; they looked funny._

" _CLEAR!"_

_He cocked his head, why was he saying that? The people moved a little but then pressed closer, why was he saying to go away? And why weren't they listening? So many questions, maybe he could ask the guy in the white coat. Tottering over, he tugged slightly on the man's coat. Two glass covered eyes looked at him for a moment before saying "Get him out of here"_

_The man was rude; he decided he didn't like him. Continuing over to another guy, who didn't have a coat, he tugged on his pant's leg. This man, younger that the meanie head, knelt down while pulling off his mask and smiled._

" _Hey little guy, what's your name?" He liked this guy, he was much nicer and perhaps he would answer his questions. Two blue eyes, concern in them, were looking at him; with the same look that Mommy usually had._

" _Blake" He had finally perfected saying his name with out other sounds getting in the way like it had for while. Mommy had said that it was a lisp, that it would go away when he got older, he certainly hoped it did._

" _My name's David" A much bigger hand was held out to him, he shook it best he could due to his little kid hand._

" _I'VE GOT A PULSE!"_

_He tried to peek around the man, but he was blocked. Huffing in annoyance that he couldn't see, he decided to ask the nice man "What's gwoing on?"_

_David seemed to freeze for a moment, before replying "I'll tell you when we get back to your room, how about that?"_

_That sounded okay, his back was starting to ache, and he missed the white bed. Just thinking about the pillows was making his eyes droop a tiny bit. His body felt sluggish, it must be his nap time. Mommy has said many times that nap time was important, just like not talking to strangers. David was a stranger, should he be talking to him? But he was a doctor and Mommy said that he could trust doctors. Boo-boo people and pol…poli…bad guy catchers. So he was doing the right thing by talking to David._

" _Okay" He smiled, which made the man's grow a bit bigger._

" _You want me to carry you?" His eyebrows scrunched together at the question. Mommy was the one who usually carried him, cradling him in the crook of her neck so that he could fall asleep. She would rock him and sweet dreams would come…But he was kinda tired, Mommy would probably be okay with it._

_David raised to his giant height and instead of replying to the question, he held his arms up. Responding to the signal, the man picked him up gently before cradling him just like Mommy did. He was a bit stronger than Mommy, but it was very comforting in his arms._

_Exhaustion of the day began to creep over him…_

The darkness began to fade, pain and aches coming back with the feeling in all his joints.

It was so quite around him, he liked that.

Blindly tucking the blankets around him, he hoped that no one would disturb him. Sleep didn't come easy to him anymore, nightmares of aliens and death screwing with his sleep schedule. Whenever he was able to get back to sleep, it was time to get up. Assuring anyone who asked that he was okay, he would fall into bed after the day was done; only to wake up with his heart racing a hour or two later. If he ever tried to take a nap… the others it got to be so loud sometimes, Shane and Hunter would fight, Dustin would tease Cam, and Tori would try to keep them all in line…THE OTHERS! He had left them in the bar, who knows what the hell had happen? Quite a few scenarios of what drunken ninjas could do entered his mind; none were even remotely close to being good.

Cursing himself for lazily lying in bed when they might need a ride home, he began to try and draw the will power to get out of bed. He really didn't want to, he wished there was a snooze button. 'Five more minutes' maybe if he muttered that, he could stay under the warm cocoon of blankets for ten more minutes. Would that work? He wished, bur no. Groaning as he opened his eyes and straightened up, he found himself to be in a white room.

Strange, he thought he had been in his own room; the one with navy everywhere. Old motocross posters were suppose to be on the walls, trophies were suppose to be littering every available spot, there was suppose to be a medal for first place in a plaque (he had kicked Hunter's butt for that one, he was still jealous). Where was he? Everything was white; it looked sanitary and smelled like bleach.

"You're awake, good" His eyes went to the voice, a young, blue eyed and brown haired woman in a…

He didn't want to be here, he didn't want to be frikin here!

…nurses uniform.

"Where am I?" Dumb question, he knew where he was. He was in his personal hell, only it didn't have guns, also known as the hospital. Maybe he was in a nursing home, like that would be any better, but perhaps she wouldn't confirm his theory.

"You're at the hospital, how are you feeling?"

Find my happy place, find my happy place; he chanted the words inside his mind. He really wanted to be somewhere else, like the track. The soothing sound of a motor in his ear, dirt flying beneath his feet, and the sweet smirk on his face after he finished first. Taking a deep breath, he tried to maintain the daydream; he tried to keep out the memories. He was successful in ignoring his surroundings, until she had to shatter his happy place and bring him back to reality.

"Sir?"

Sighing in irritation at her interruption, he decided that it would be a good idea to respond "Everything's sore, but I'm fine" Maybe he could get out of here sooner if she thought that he didn't need to stay here. Escaping hell might be easier than he thought.

"Considering that you got hit by a car, you're lucky that nothing's broken except your wrist" He eyed the woman, his wrist was broken? Testing his right, nothing; his left…

"Owwww" The word was hissed as a shot of pain ripped through his arm

"I wouldn't do that I were you. Other than that, you are going to be black and blue all over tomorrow" Really, he sarcastically thought, because I thought that getting hit by a hunk of steel was going to not leave a scratch! Although he really wanted to, in his grumpy state, tell her off; that would not help him get out of here any faster.

"Thank you, Mrs…" Maybe he could get her to bring him a phone, so that he could tell Hunter to get his crimson ass down here and get him out of here! His brother knew he didn't like guns; he hadn't shared the hospital thing with anyone, but he had a hunch that Hunter knew. No one else knew, except for his adopted father (who was unfortunately dead), due to the fact that he had been there that night…

"Hazel, Alex Hazel" She stuck out a hand, he considered the fact that he last name was a possible coincidence due to the slightly darker streak going through her hair.

Grimacing as he adjusted to meet her halfway, he shook it "Blake Bradley"

After he said it, she took his chart and wrote something down. That's right, he hadn't told the paramedics his name nor had he had any identification on him. It was in the van, the one he was suppose to be driving. He felt the weight of something in his jean pocket, it was the keys he was suppose to be using around this time. Worry of the others filled his mind, not that he didn't trust them, but he needed to be there.

He needed to be anywhere but here.

"Well Blake, you'll probably need to be overnight, just so we can keep an eye on you"

Noooooooo, he internally screamed.

He did not want to stay here for a second longer than he had too!

He didn't like the smell, or the atmosphere, or the possibility of…

With his thoughts, a bed pushed by others swept right past him; Alex hurried to go join the party. Not that he cared; he was too focused on the color surrounding the unfortunate person. In his opinion, there were two kinds of crimson. There was Hunter crimson, the color of said idiot's spandex and there was the other kind of darker crimson…

…blood.

Not that he wasn't fine with a scratch, a cut; but in big amounts; the liquid didn't disgust him, it reminded him of…Something he never wanted to remember, something he had tried to bury.

_Another yawn escaped, he was feeling really sleepy._

_He hoped that they were near the white bed, and then he could sleep. David was being really careful, he felt really safe. Opening his eyes for a moment, his gaze went to something new. From his high perch, he saw a new color. It was red. No, it was darker, much darker. Mommy hadn't said anything about different shades, maybe the person carrying him would know._

" _Dwavid?" He kept looking at the new color, even as it was getting on all the nurses hands. They were trying to clean up the color, why he wondered._

" _Yeah little guy?" A deep voice replied, he felt the body he was laying against move with the words._

" _What's that color called?" They stopped moving and David's head moved to the side slightly to get a look of what he was talking about. The bigger man's body tensed up a bit, but he didn't notice; he just wanted his answer._

" _Crimson" He would have never guessed, but he thought it was a good name._

" _Cwimson" The color name rolled off his tongue, it was a pretty name he decided._

" _It's pretty isn't it?" The guy had just read his mind, which he found interesting and weird. Instead of replying, he just nodded into his new friend's shoulder. They started moving again, he kept his drooping eyes on the color._

Guilt and sadness began to overwhelm him; he needed to get out of here.

"What happened?" He asked a passing nurse, one that had somehow not gotten sucked into the injured person that head just come in.

"Gun shot wound to the chest, she's bleeding out"

Eyes, his, went wide as he fumbled with the blankets. He had to get out of here, he didn't want to be here; everything might just come back if he stayed. He wanted it to stay buried, where it could never haunt him. Even if it already was…

_He liked it better than regular red; crimson was now his second favorite color. Right after navy, which would always be his number one. He kept watching it, even more appeared. From where he wondered? He would have to ask…_

_A nurse moved, showing who was lying on the bed._

_Dark hair, just like his._

" _Mommy?" His voice started small, his eyes glued to her closed ones_

_There was no response, why wasn't she answering? It looked like she was sleeping, but the crimson was coming from a big hole, it scared him. The doctors swarmed around her, but all he saw was her._

" _Mommy?" He said it a bit louder, which drew the attention of a few bystanders in the hall. David's hold on him tightened a bit as they moved further away from his mom, why was he doing that? They should be getting closer; he wanted to be with his mommy!_

_Again, there wasn't an answer. She didn't even move, what was going on? A tear rolled down his face, why wasn't mommy telling him that it was going to be okay? He didn't understand, no one was explaining it. He needed to get to her, which meant he had to get out of the strong arms around him._

" _Let me gwo!" He started squirming and twisting, trying to slither out of the arms; but David had a good grip. His legs were kicking, he started screaming._

" _Can't do" The murmured reply was barely heard over his yells._

" _PWUT ME DOWN!" He tried even harder, trying everything and anything he could think of; but nothing was working. Seeing the exposed skin of a hand, he even tried to bite it, but it was moved before he could. Looking back at her, more tears came. Why wasn't she helping him, why was she just lying there?_

" _MOMMY!" Screaming it at the top of his lungs, his attempts to get free became extreme, starting with his little fists trying to hit David in the face. But still, he wasn't put down. Despite his struggling, the older man had a very tight grip on him and before he knew it he was back on the big white bed. Looking to where mommy was, his view was blocked as a door was closed. With his back starting to ache, he jumped off the bed before dodging David's attempts to grab him._

_Mommy always did say that he was a fast little boy._

_His lungs reaching their limit, he sucked in breath for another round of glass shattering screaming while he tried to reach the doorknob…_

Carefully maneuvering out of the bed, while watching his slightly aching wrist, he reached the door…right as a nurse was locking it from the outside.

"Let me out!" He growled in as much anger as he could muster, although fear was spreading through his veins.

"I'm sorry sir, but the gunman is being treated right now and all patients must stay in their rooms…" It was hard to imagine the expression on his face right now, he mused that it was probably one of a cornered animal, but it was obvious that the woman was scared of him.

"Please" Cutting her off, he lowered his tone; hoping to god that she would actually listen to him. He didn't want to be here!

"…for their own protection" Ignoring him, she finished her sentence before quickly walking away. His eyes followed in hope that she would come back, no dice.

Damn it! His fist collided with the wooden door.

_It wouldn't open, he pushed his weight against it, but nothing happened. He had to get to mommy, why could he see her! Backing up to attempt to break down the door again, despite the fact that he knew he couldn't, he then proceeded to glare at the wood before rushing at it. But before he could make contact, two hands grabbed him; stopping him in his tracks._

" _Let me gwo" His dark eyes glared at the man, the person he had thought was his friend!_

" _Blake, can we talk for a second?" Why would he do that? The man was a meanie, just like the other guy, he had kept him away from mommy!_

" _What?" He would give him one chance, perhaps it would give him time to rush past him._

" _You're mom…"_

_The gaze he gave out turned softer, what was he trying to say?_

" _Mommy?"_

_David nodded before saying "Mommy is sleeping"_

_Well that wasn't a big deal, she would wake up and they could play together soon! He took naps all the time and he felt much better; at least he knew that mommy was just taking a nap._

" _A nap?" He smiled, thinking he understood_

" _No, she's not waking up"_

_What? You always woke up, David must be going crazy or something._

" _What do you mwean?" Maybe he didn't understand, what was going on then?_

_David sighed before taking a breath "Mommy is never waking up"_

_But she had to, he never got to show her the heart he made! He still wanted to go to the park and mommy said that they were going to the zoo next week, she had to wake up. She couldn't sleep forever._

" _N-never?" His baby squeak came out stammering, he needed mommy; who else was going to care for him? Who was going to love him and tell him that he was a big boy and that he was so special?_

_The man shook his head "But she's having nice dreams now"_

" _Am I in them?"_

" _Of course"_

_He then found that he was crying as David pulled him closer. He buried his teary eyes in the crook of his neck, just as he had done when mommy comforted him after his nightmares._

_David was almost as comforting as mommy, he decided that he was his friend again._

" _Everything's going to be okay…" He heard the words be whispered in his ear, he curled closer._

_Maybe it was true, although he didn't believe it yet._

_Then the door opened…_

Take a breath, he thought, trying to calm himself.

He wasn't five, he could deal with this; he could do it. Taking a few steps around the room, he tried to ignore his surroundings.

Block it out, bury it deep, and forget it all.

That's what he chanted in his head; he felt his heart rate drop a little. Closing his eyes, his body loosed a bit. Everything was going to be okay…

"Hey little man"

His eyes flew open to see a man whispering the words on the other side of the window. Security was handcuffing him, but all he could do was stare. It's wasn't his father, but it didn't matter…the words were the same.

" _Hey little man"_

_He looked up to see daddy, who was glaring at David's back. The nice man stood up to shield him, just like mommy had._

" _You are not welcome here" Leveling his lighter eyes at daddy, who was taller than him, he stood his ground._

" _Doesn't matter, I ain't going n-n-no where" The slurred words reminded him of earlier in the night, he cowered behind David._

_He saw a few pol-pol- bad guy catchers coming up behind daddy, he wondered what was going on._

" _Leave now"_

" _Not without that screw up"_

_He hugged David's leg tighter; he didn't want to go home with daddy. It was okay when mommy was there, but she was sleeping and wouldn't be able to kiss his boo-boos._

" _You are not taking him"_

" _Yes I-I-I am!"_

_With a very angry look, he was the nice man hiss back "Over my dead body!"_

_But before daddy could reply, the people with badges pushed him up against a wall. He watched as they put some kind of metal on daddy's wrist. Then they started talking, but he didn't hear a little bit of what they said._

"… _anything you say can and damn sure will be used against you in a court of law, you bastard…"_

_David wrapped him in a hug, lifting him up to the bed._

" _You okay?"_

_He nodded, as he watched daddy get dragged away._

_He was glad._

_Then he realized that he was tired, his eyes started to close._

" _Dwavid…" He yawned_

" _I'm here, its okay" A large hand held onto his, he felt safe._

_Sleep overcame him, everything of the night disappearing with it._

He felt himself backing up at a rapid pace, bumping into difference equipment before he fell to the floor. Hissing at the pain that went through his arm, he continued to back up in till his back hit the wall.

Block it out.

He closed his eyes, trying to forget, the images were still there.

Bury it deep.

He tried to breath, to stop the burning in his chest, his lungs still burned.

Forget it all.

He thought of different things, but the memories still made themselves known.

Curling up like he did so many years ago, he felt the tears stream down his cheeks. He tried to focus on the mantra he had kept for so long. He tried despite the fact he felt himself trembling against the wall, he heard the door open and his name being called. Maybe it was Alex, he didn't care, and he just wanted it to all go away. Focus, he pleaded to himself, focus!

Block.

Bury.

Forget.

But nothing was working!

He felt a prick, a slight pain in his arm.

Then there was darkness, with it numbness.

And he was glad.

* * *

_He didn't really know why he was here, no one had told him anything._

_Normally, he wouldn't have agreed to anything that he didn't know about but since Dad had asked him to be here, he had come. His Mom had dropped him off, knowing that he would safely make it to the other parent. Walking down the sanitized halls, he quickly found the nurses station. Since his dad worked here part time, all other times was spent teaching him ninja skills, although mum was the word on that; he was very familiar with the hospital._

" _How are you doing Hun?" The nurses loved him, Mom said that he was handsome after him and knew him by sight; his dirty blonde hair was hard to miss after all._

" _Good, where's my dad?" He was polite, although his voice may have been a bit too loud_

" _Shhhh, don't you know you're in a hospital?" Another nurse put her hands on her hips with a serious look_

" _Sorry" Making sure his voice was smaller; it came out in a small squeak, one that he had been trying to get rid of. After all, big boys didn't having baby voices._

_Both nurses smiled at him, the one that had been mad a moment ago said softly "Its okay honey, just make sure to use your inside voice"_

_He cracked a smile, which included the gap where he had just lost a tooth (the tooth fairy also loved him, he had gotten a dollar!) before replying "Yes ma'am!"_

" _Hush!"_

" _Oops" He covered his mouth_

_The women's grins grew wider, one said "You're dad's right over there sweetie" He looked over to where she was pointing._

" _Thanks" He whispered before tiptoeing towards the door, hearing them laugh at his antics._

Moving down the hallways in a place that he was somewhat comfortable in, despite the fact that his Dad was dead and that Blake was hidden somewhere in here. He and the other rangers had somehow bypassed the nurses, their eyes now peeled for any sign of their missing member.

Cam hadn't had any news to offer, except that the navy ninja hadn't looked so good when they had wheeled him in. He, in his frenzy filled anger state, had asked why the hell that the green ranger hadn't followed him; the snappy answer had been that he had been threatened by the security guard with a glare that said 'Follow and I'll throw you out of the building'. Understanding his reasoning, the ranger team had proceeded to set off into the depths of the hospital.

Checking everyplace they could while making up excuses of why they were wandering the halls, the five were slowly making their way through the many levels.

Finally, it seemed that Tori had had enough of being clueless.

"Why don't we ask where he is?"

Simple question, not so simple answer.

"Because none of us could pass for a family member, the nurses will think that me being his brother is complete bull" He pointed out while scanning the windows of the different rooms.

_Standing on his tiptoes, he looked in the window. There was his Dad and some kid, he took a closer look. The kid was small and much darker than what he was used to seeing at home. One strange thing was that the kid's eyes were red, what had caused that? Before he could muse an answer, his Dad noticed him and came outside the door. A hint of jealousy went through him as the kid's eyes followed the older man the entire time until he exited the room. If the kid was trying to steal David from him, then he had another thing coming._

_David and Rachel Bradley had adopted him when he was really young, so they were his mom and dad no matter what anybody else might say. They were awesome parents and he loved them, so he didn't care if they weren't his birth parents or not._

" _Hey buddy"_

_He smiled as his Dad closed the door behind him, before giving him a hug._

The blue water ranger knew he was right, but still pouted in her idea getting shot down. The others tried to think of a new idea, except for Dustin…

"Excuse me; do you know the room number of Blake Bradley?"

…who had decided to put his fellow wind ranger's plan into action.

He glared at the yellow, but there was nothing he could do. The question had already been asked; maybe they could actually find where his brother was.

"And you would be?" The nurse eyed them all, him especially due to the fact that he was the tallest of the group. A few inches above Shane, this of course pissed the red off.

"Um…" How to answer, like he had explained earlier, the nurses would not take any lies, even if they weren't lying.

"I got this one Joy" Another nurse, with brown hair and blue eyes intruded, but the other one gave up and went to another set of people. The new woman looked at them before asking "You said Bradley right?"

"Yes, I'm his brother" What the hell did they have to lose; besides this woman looked like she might actually understand.

"Ah, you're Hunter, the older of the Bradley adoptees, David were your father correct?" He was taken back, how the…

"How do you know that?" The other ninjas were listening intently, knowing almost nothing of the thunder rangers' pasts.

"David Bradley was praised by the older hands here; he sounded like a kind man" She smiled, before walking towards a specific door; he and the other followed.

"He was…" Taking a moment of silence for the deceased he then spoke a question that he desperately wanted answered "Where's Blake?"

"He's right here" Looking to where she was motioning, he found himself looking at a white bed with a darkly tanned figure in it. The fact that he was unmoving bothered him for a moment, but he told himself that he was just sleeping.

"How is he?" He heard Shane ask, always the concerned leader; although the rest of the team would have asked if the red hadn't.

" _What's going on?" He eyed the kid through the window, who was now looking towards the door with a longing look._

" _Hunter…" Two light eyes leveled in his direction, what was the serious look for? "…I need you to do me a favor"_

" _What is it?" Curiosity filled him, he was really interested now._

" _The boy's name is Blake, his mother was just killed and his dad…" A bitter look came over his dad for a moment before he continued "…was taken away. I need you to go talk to him, see what you think of him"_

" _Why?" That was the question; couldn't Dad just talk to him and get the answer that he needed?_

" _Because your mother and I are considering adopting him, but we want to make sure that you two would get along; he would be your little brother after all" He felt his jaw drop, did he hear that correctly? His blonde self wasn't sure how he would react to another kid in the house, getting attention from his parents. He had heard that new siblings were picked on by jealous older brothers and sister; from what David had told him, the kid had already been through so much, he didn't want to hurt him more…_

" _It's my decision?" How could he decide something like that, whether to put another kid by his side or in a foster house? He had never had to go there, but he didn't want to do that to someone. Taking another look at the newly named Blake, he found that the kid was much smaller that he had seemed. So much younger than himself…_

" _Yes, you think you can do it big boy?" His Dad winked at him with love in every part of the statement, he couldn't help but smile._

"His left wrist is broken and he bruised a couple of ribs, he's lucky that it wasn't worse"

He smiled, everything was alright; the death scenarios that had been going through his mind were wiped away. Moving towards the door, he was stopped by her hand.

"There's one more thing" She eyed the others, they eyed her back; they wanted to hear.

'I'll tell you later' he sent them a look saying so; they wandered a few feet away.

Turning back to her, he waited to hear what she had to say.

"He had to be sedate a few minutes ago; it was mild and should be wearing off, but…"

"Why?" Why had they sedated his brother? Blake was not an aggressive person, that was more his department, what had happened?

"He had a panic attack of sorts; we tried to calm him down but…"

He cut her off; he didn't need to know anything else. Not what had caused it, not how he had been set off by. He just needed to do his job.

"Thanks" Was his only word before entering the room with the eyes of rangers and nurses on him.

" _Give me a minute" The coolly toned words came out, just as he had practiced, as he opened the door and walked into the room._

_He could do it, he knew he could._

_Blake raised his head to look at him, before looking at his…shirt? It wasn't anything special, just a basic tee in the most awesome shade of red he could think of._

" _Cwimson" He held back a chuckle at the squeak he heard_

" _It's my favorite color" The little boy's eyes lit up_

" _Rweally?" The kid was cute, but did he want him as a brother?_

" _Yep, what's yours?" Maneuvering towards the chair pulled beside the bed, he pulled himself into it with little difficulty._

" _Navy" Made sense, due to the fact that there was a big, darkly shaded blue teddy bear tucked into the covers, pretty much hidden from sight. It had his Mother's signature all over it; she must have picked it up when she had heard about Blake. He had one in his room, crimson of course, from when they had adopted him._

_Adoption, what was going to happen to the kid if he didn't say yes? Blake seemed nice but…he didn't know what he wanted. Was he ready to protect a little kid, like big brothers were supposed to?_

The room was quite, the steady beep of medical machines being the only sounds. Walking over to the bed, he peered over the still body of his younger. It was hard seeing him like this again, at least last time he had been moving and talking.

"Hunter?"

Letting out a sigh of relief, he met two dark eyes and smiled.

"Hey bro"

A faint smile was seen on the navy's face. "Nice shirt"

It was crinkled with stains of sweat under the arms, but it was crimson, which was all that mattered.

"I thought you liked navy better" Grabbing the chair from the side, he settled into it while never breaking eye contact.

"I do, navy kicks crimson ass" A small chuckle was heard

With a smirk at Blake's antics, that despite the fact that he was in a hospital bed the navy was still messing with him, he retaliated "For your information,  _cwimson_ is much better than navy, after all; I wear it so therefore it has to be awesome"

"That was so low; you really had to bring the lisp into it? And just because you are a red that means that crimson beats navy?" He nodded in amusement while proving his point, although the younger knew he was just messing with him.

"Any day, besides I'm older"

"Like it matters"

"I'm not the one that got run over, little brother"

"Shut up"

Neither cared where the pointless conversation was going, he knew Blake was using it as a distraction to avoid remembering the past.

"When can I leave?" He wanted to get the navy out of here as soon as possible, but…

"You have to get the cast on your wrist" The two brothers barely stopped themselves from laughing at the sight of their four teammates sticking out in any space where the nurse wasn't in the doorway.

"Well that shouldn't take too long" Tori sent a sweet smile towards the in bed ninja, who mirrored it.

"I'll get the supplies" After weaving through the other rangers, the nurse disappeared.

"How are you doing?" Dustin asked, moving towards his wrist, eying it with questions in mind. Like if you touched it, would it flop like a water balloon? One of the weird questions in the yellow's mind.

"Do NOT poke it!" The water ranger smacked him, seeing his plan.

"I wasn't dude!"

"I'm just sore, except my wrist" Blake winced, but was still smirking at Dustin's actions

"No motocross for you" Shane observed, glad to hear that one of the rangers was relatively unharmed.

"Too bad, even though you weren't much of a threat" Hunter grinned

"You know with a broken wrist I can still kick your ass ninja style right?" His brother glared

"I can't wait to see that" Dustin resolved to get it on film this time

"The nurse said something….panic attack or something…what was that about?" He froze, as did his younger brother; figures that Cam had heard. Him and his bat hearing, the yellow comic book reader swore that he had been dipped in some chemical.

The two met eyes, what were they going to do? This was their closest group of friends, but the story held a lot of demons that were meant to be locked away.

"Blake?" It was the younger's decision, he was the more traumatized of the two

"They deserve to know" Moving to allow more space bed side, he made sure that he was nearest to Blake's uninjured wrist. Just in case that the navy needed him, a reassuring hand to hold his.

" _Who are you?"_

_How to introduce himself, he could just say his first name; but…_

_Before he could think through what he was doing, he knew his decision was made and he was satisfied as he spoke the words in the most loving tone he could muster. Just like the one that his Dad had used only moments ago._

" _My name's Hunter, I'm you're new big brother"_

That's what he was supposed to do, he was the eldest.

He had never regretted the decision he had made so long ago, never would he.

And right then, in the middle of a hospital room, he was there to tell Blake, his sweet little brother…

No matter what happened, what was said…

…that everything was going to be okay.

And that it already was.

* * *

He was cool, calm, and collected.

The few times he wasn't, although he really wishes he was, when he was scared, unbalanced, or out of control; he sometimes wished he had a clone. Someone that when he freaked out, perfect example being a few minutes ago, the person would slap him before telling him that it was going to be alright.

Taking a breath, he wished he had that person right now.

His teammates watched his every move, but their eyes were filled with understanding letting him know that they supported him no matter what.

Block, he couldn't.

Bury, he had tried.

Forget, now was not the time.

Then a small smile caught his gaze, a person sitting by his side.

The person that he needed in the few moments that he wasn't himself, ready to leap into action for him.

He decided he didn't need a clone to tell him that everything was going to be alright, to balance him.

After all…

That was Hunter's job.


End file.
